Tickling is the most unpleasant phenomenon that causes contagious laughter and irritability. It involves physical pressure using your fingertips or a gentle feather on sensitive areas of the body: heels, neck, wrists, stomach and armpits.
Only those people who have weak nerve endings can enjoy it. In other cases, they lose control of their emotions and wonder how to concentrate in such situations and how to stop being afraid of tickling? There are several effective exercises that will help you pull yourself together.
Dangerous moment
Tickle torture has existed since ancient times. Only the bravest person could withstand it. In total, several dangers can be identified that arise due to its effect on a certain area of the body:
- Slight dizziness appears.
- Uncontrolled urination may occur.
- The sensitivity of some points becomes aggravated, which is why pain then appears.
- Hiccups begin.
- Salivation increases.
- If you act on the same area for a long time, spasms and severe suffocation may occur, and you may even die from tickling.
What can you do to avoid these negative aspects? You need to figure out how to stop being afraid of tickling.
The effect of tickling on the body
Few people were interested in the origin of this phenomenon. The fact is that there is no single designation for the reaction of influence on the body. There are 3 theories:
- That convulsive state, accompanied by signs of fear of tickling, is a protective reaction of the body to external stimuli.
- Excitation of the nervous system stimulates the work of all internal organs and systems. Hormonal levels change, which changes your mood, and even increases your immunity.
- Tickling, as a side effect, is a condition that the body cannot accurately determine (whether it is a threat or affection).
You need to fight fear
For different people, tickling can cause feelings of disgust, or it can be associated with humor and as a way to stimulate the mood.
It is impossible to tickle yourself. You just need to touch your body to understand this. The brain promptly receives a signal that there is no danger. There is only one conclusion: the body’s reactions have a close connection with the human psyche.
Method one – complete “switching”
The first thing a person who is being “tickled” needs is to relax as much as possible. It is recommended to do breathing exercises - take a smooth deep breath and exhale the same way. During it, you need to try to switch from this situation to any other: think about existing problems, reflect on philosophical topics, mentally imagine any phenomenon, for example, the sun rising, waves splashing or water flowing from a tap. This cunning method will allow a person to concentrate on his thoughts, this will reduce the sensitivity of nerve endings.
Method three - transformation
Most often, a person, in order to mock another person, begins to tickle his heels. They are considered the most sensitive area. During such a period, a person develops a feeling of mild and incomprehensible fear, which he cannot cope with on his own. At this moment, you should mentally make a transformation of emotions, for example, transform them into a feeling of aggression. Anger will allow you to overcome yourself and reduce the sensitivity of nerve endings.
10 Coolest Facts About Tickling That Will Make You Clear Why It’s Necessary
Why is tickling needed? Seriously, why did nature create it? Faktrum is sure: after reading these facts you will no longer have such questions!
Tickling helps us bond
Back in the 19th century, Charles Darwin noted that tickling was a mechanism for social bonding. It serves as one of the first forms of communication between mother and child. It also helps build connections between friends and is considered by psychologists to be part five, the highest level of social play, involving intimacy and cognitive interaction.
We can't tickle ourselves
If another person's touch can cause tickling, why can't we tickle ourselves? Scientists suggest that our cerebellum can distinguish unexpected touch from expected sensations, and this suppresses the tickle response. When we try to tickle ourselves, the brain anticipates this and prepares for the tickling. Perhaps a person developed different reactions to the expected and the unexpected in order to better protect himself from enemies.
The most “ticklish” places are the most vulnerable places during an attack
The soles of the feet and armpits are considered two of the most “ticklish” places on our body. In addition, most ticklish areas such as the neck, chest, and genital area are also the most vulnerable in battles.
The axillary cavity contains the axillary vein and artery and provides easy access to the heart, which is not protected by the chest. The neck also contains two important arteries in the human body that supply blood to the brain. The trachea, which carries air to the lungs, is also located in the neck.
Tickling is our body's warning system.
Just like itching, tickling can protect us by directing our attention to external stimuli, such as predators or parasites. This type of tickling, called knimesis—light tickling—rarely causes laughter and is common in humans and animals.
Scientists have discovered that the feeling we get when we are tickled makes us panic and is a natural defense mechanism against crawling insects such as spiders and beetles.
Tickling can turn into torture
There have been cases in history where tickling was used as corporal punishment. There is evidence that the Nazis used tickling as torture. The ancient Romans also used a special type of torture. They tied up the offenders, dipped their feet in salt water and forced the goats to lick it off. Over time, the tickling became very painful.
As for death from tickling, there is evidence that a person can die from laughter, which means it is theoretically possible to some extent.
The older we are, the less sensitive we are to tickling.
Is tickling child's play? There is some truth to this, since people under 40 are 10 times more likely to be tickled than those over 40. And this is not because adults do not like tickling, but with age there is a gradual decrease in tactile sensitivity.
Tickling can be stopped
How to do it? Place your hand on the hand of the person tickling you. Doctors often resort to this trick. When a doctor wants to examine a patient's abdomen, he may ask him to place his hand on his. So you're kind of doing the same thing as the doctor, which makes our brain think you're tickling yourself. The only problem is to grab the tickler's hand.
Tickling helps you lose weight
If tickling makes you laugh out loud, it burns calories. Scientists have found that 10-15 minutes of laughter burns an additional 10-40 calories per day, which can mean weight loss of several kilograms over a year. Of course, it's not the same as going to the gym, but if you decide to lose weight, every calorie counts.
Tickling can provide sexual pleasure
For some people, tickling almost any part of the body gives them pleasure, and there are those who get aroused by watching others being tickled. In a broad sense, tickling can serve as a form of foreplay. However, with knismolagnia - arousal from tickling - it becomes a form of sexual fetishism.
Why do we laugh when we are tickled?
This is the main unanswered question regarding tickling. Laughter is usually associated with humor and pleasure. But when tickled, it occurs uncontrollably, not being associated with a joke or funny incident. Sometimes the tickling process can even be unpleasant and painful. So why do we laugh?
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Method four – “cinema” exercise
The most effective method to overcome your fear of tickling is to mentally transport yourself to a movie theater. A person should imagine that he is sitting alone in a spacious and beautiful hall. There should be a feeling of calm, comfort and security. Some famous black and white film is shown on the big screen. It’s worth trying to imagine all the events that are happening in your head, see the faces of the main characters, and understand their feelings. After just five minutes of such a relaxation session, you will notice that the feeling of fear has completely left you.
What can tickling lead to?
The most common reaction of the body to tickling is a smile and hysterical laughter. Sometimes the emotional state is so affected by the irritant that tears may appear. There are other signs that should be noticed promptly. You should consult a doctor if tickling causes:
- dizziness;
- pain in the area where the stimulus acts;
- uncontrolled urination;
- hiccups
Prolonged tickling can be fatal. It has been proven that prolonged active action of the irritant can cause muscle spasms and suffocation. Death from tickling is possible.
Help from a psychologist for pteronophobia
Simple rules
In total, we can highlight a few basic rules on how to stop being afraid of tickling.
- You need to constantly train. For example, ask a friend or relative to periodically tickle themselves in a certain area. You can influence it yourself using a soft object. During this process, you need to practice distraction exercises. This method will help you get used to this state and understand which relaxation method will help more.
- You should always perceive tickling as something very pleasant, capable of bringing the most positive emotions. The brain will automatically remember this setting. During exposure to a certain point, it will give appropriate signals.
- Periodically you need to do breathing exercises, it will help you cope with a wide variety of emotions.
There are people who constantly have a panicky fear of tickling. Even in a calm state, they experience severe discomfort. In this case, you need to contact a psychotherapist, he will conduct a course of relaxation therapy that will help you cope with this condition.
Ways to deal with fear
To get rid of the unpleasant sensations caused by tickling, a number of exercises have been developed:
- 1. To perform the first, you need to take a comfortable position. Imagining that he is beginning to be tickled, a person should evoke the appearance of goosebumps on his skin, characteristic of this moment. And then immediately switch your imagination to warm, pleasant sensations. The cycle of imagining the tickling sensation and exiting this state should be repeated several times. The exercise should be done until the person no longer has any discomfort at the memory of being tickled.
- 2. To stop being afraid of tickling, at the moment it starts, you need to make every effort to distract yourself and relax. To do this, you need to imagine yourself wrapped in a warm, soft blanket. This exercise helps both to get used to the sensation itself and to reduce the discomfort associated with it.
- 3. After performing the previous two exercises for a long time (at least a week), a person needs to ask someone from his family to tickle him in the most sensitive places: neck, feet, heels, under the knee, in the ribs or abdomen. At this time, it is necessary to make every effort to relax as much as possible, to feel that tickling does not pose anything dangerous and does not cause harm.
Reading: Dysmorphophobia: definition of the concept in psychology, causes and symptoms
Concentration
Psychologists say that full concentration on the properties of the influencing object will help you to distract yourself from unpleasant touches:
- its temperature;
- heaviness;
- size;
- texture.
The more detailed the analysis of the characteristics of the irritating factor, the faster the brain will be distracted from unpleasant sensations, they will fade into the background.
